


New Heights

by griseldalafey



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rumbelle Showdown 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 16:57:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3817987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/griseldalafey/pseuds/griseldalafey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They meet at an amusement park (third round entry)</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Heights

**Author's Note:**

> I struggled so much with this round. I started and discarded a ton of ideas, but eventually came up with this.   
> Prompts: reign of terror, looking like a daydream, wisdom.

Spending Saturday at an amusement park after a fifty hour work-week at his law firm wasn’t exactly Gold’s idea of fun, but seeing Neal’s excitement made it worth it.  They were currently standing in line for ‘ _Reign of Terror’_ , an enormous roller-coaster ride and when they were finally admitted onto the platform, Neal made a bee-line for the first cart as he limbed behind him, trying to keep up.

“Come on Belle, it’s way more fun if you’re sitting at the front!” an excited voice cried and a blonde-haired girl reached the front cart at the exact moment his son did.  The girl was followed by a petite woman in a bright yellow sundress and his eyes widened as he recognized the firm’s recently appointed archivist.

“Good day, Miss French,”

Large, blue eyes met his, but it was her genuine warm smile that took him aback. “Mr. Gold! I never expected to see you here!”

“I can well imagine,” he replied wryly. “I’m here with my son, Neal.”

Comprehension dawned in her eyes and she indicated the girl behind her.  “This is Grace, my goddaughter.

Meanwhile, the two teenagers were staring each other down, silently warring over the front cart. Eventually though, Neal sighed resignedly.   
 “You can have it,” he offered, sounding almost perfectly gallant.

“Thanks!” Grace beamed, climbing in instantly, but Belle shifted her brilliant smile to his son. “That’s very kind of you, but how about this: you and Grace take the front cart and your dad and I sit right behind you?”

At his indulgent nod, Neal let out a whoop of joy and joined Grace, leaving him and Belle to settle in themselves.

Soon after the carts started moving and it was only then that he realized what he had gotten himself into. As the carts kept rising up in the air, he suddenly became aware of just how high up they were going and when the train stopped at the top and hung precariously in the air for a few long seconds he knew with a blinding clarity that he was never going to get out of this contraption alive.

The minutes that followed were a whirl of stomach-wrecking plunges and bloodcurdling screams - not his though - as he was being unceremoniously jostled around in the cart, his person frequently colliding with that of Miss French.

After what felt like a lifetime, the train finally slowed down and he could have wept with joy at the sight of the platform.

By the time he was shakily standing on his legs again, leaning heavily on his cane, Neal and Grace were jumping up and down on the platform, buzzing with adrenaline.  “That was awesome! Let’s go again!”

He barely refrained himself from groaning and his lack of response finally alarmed his son. “Papa… you’re looking green!”

As it took all of his focus to keep the contents of this stomach inside, he felt immensely grateful when Miss French slipped her arm around his, carefully steering him off the platform.  Once outside she dug up a coin purse from her handbag and handed it to Grace.   
“There’s a soda booth over there, why don’t you and Neal get us all some drinks. Iced Tea for me and I think Mr. Gold would like some water.”

As the kids ran off, she led him to a picnic table and he sat down gratefully, feeling every muscle in his body ache and every inch the old man.

“For what it’s worth, I despise those things too,” she assured him.

“At least you’re not looking like a wreck,” he muttered darkly, shame kicking in now that he felt calmer.

She laughed softly and leaned in conspiringly. “I’ve kept my eyes close the entire time.”

When Neal and Grace returned with the drinks he was surprised at how easily the four of them fell into conversation. There was no awkwardness or tension and when Grace mentioned she wanted to see the haunted house next it felt like the most natural thing in the world to go there together.

In the five months she’d been working for Gold & Mills he’d come to appreciate her as a dedicated, highly efficient employee. He’d called for her assistance on a few occasions and had been impressed by her smart mind and resourcefulness.   
But today he got to know a whole new side of her, one that left him even more entranced. At work she dressed and acted in a friendly, but very professional manner, but on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of a sunlit amusement park, Belle French was like a dream come true.   
The soft yellow sundress hugged her small form in all the right places, leaving just enough to the imagination and he found himself starting to wonder the second his nerves began to settle down.   
Her hair, which until then he had only seen up in tight buns, was tumbling down in masses of shiny, chestnut curls around her shoulders and his fingers itched with the desire to caress it.

The haunted house was ominously named ‘ _The Dark Castle_ ’ and showed a rather fearsome, reptilian creature with scales and golden eyes and once again Neal and Grace claimed the front cart, while he and Belle settled down somewhere at the back of the train.  

Unlike the roller-coaster, this attraction held no great shock value to him, but once inside the dark, narrow tunnel, he felt to his astonishment how Belle pressed herself close against him, shivering slightly.

 “Sorry, I’m claustrophobic,” she apologized quietly when they stepped outside again, looking rather pale and miserable. Eager to repay the favor he told Neal and Grace to get themselves a hotdog and in line for the Splash Ride, while he found the two of them a comfortable table and ordered coffee.

The next hour flew by, with talking and teasing and he found himself drawn in by her warmth, her smiles and her lively chatter. At the firm he had to be the ruthless shark, but here, with her, he was at ease.

They ended up spending the rest of the day together and he reveled in how right it felt.  From the hugs and shared grins it was obvious that she adored her goddaughter and Neal took an instant liking to her. Watching her joke with his son and fuss over him as he came out of the Splash Ride completely drenched stirred an unexpected longing inside him.

Ever since Milah had walked out on them, their family of two had been as crippled and damaged as he was. But strolling through the park, the four of them suddenly felt like a very normal, very perfect family.   
And when she looked at him, her eyes bright and beaming, it suddenly seemed almost within his grasp.

Far too soon the park’s speakers announced closing time and as they were walking towards the gate they encountered one of the park’s costumed characters, dressed like an old lady, selling roses.

“Answer the riddle or pay the price for a rose,” the woman challenged him.

“I’ll take the riddle,” he replied more bravely then he felt, keenly aware of Belle’s eyes on him.

The woman eyed him shrewdly before asking slowly: “What belongs to you, but is used more by others?”

For a long moment he stared at her, wracking his brain and then the penny dropped and he almost gloated with relief.    
“One’s name,” he replied triumphantly.

“Congratulations, you’re the first one today,” the woman told him with a chuckle and handed him a long-stemmed, red rose. T

aking it from her, he immediately turned around and offered it to Belle, his stomach twisting with nerves.

With a startled expression she accepted it, inhaling its scent before looking back up at him, a small blush gracing her face.  “Thank you…”

“You’re welcome…”   
He held her gaze for as long as he dared, feeling his heart stammer in his chest.

As they continued to walk toward the closing gate, he couldn’t help but feel pleased with himself, even as Neal smirked at him knowingly.   
 “What the hell, papa?” he asked so quietly as not to be overheard.

Elbowing his son discreetly in the ribs he refused to let anything burst his bubble.

* * *

 

“You know…” Neal said slowly, once they were back in the Cadillac. “Grace told me she’s coming over to visit Belle next month.”

He waited for a while, but when his father refused to make a reply he added pointedly. “It could be fun to meet up again.”

Gold still made no reply apart from pressing the gas pedal a little more firmly. He’d see Belle again on Monday, but then it would be business as usual. Trying to arrange a second meeting outside the office, asking her to spend another day in the company of a crippled man twice her age was an altogether stupid endeavor.

He just had to convince his treacherous heart of it.


End file.
